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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Monday, July 1, 2013

Piraeus & Athens, Greece


Piraeus & Athens, Greece
USA TODAY
You can't quite see the Acropolis as you cruise into Piraeus, Athens' seaside gateway and one of the leading ports in the Mediterranean, but with at least eight hours on land you can get up close to this marble architectural wonder and a whole lot more ...


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NASA Robot Poking Around for Signs of Life

While Curiosity is off snapping photos of everything it finds on the surface of Mars (including itself), another NASA project aims to be a little more selective in its search. The latest version of their robot prototype Zoë, named after the Greek word for life, can drill through soil and analyze both the mineralogical and biological composition of whatever it scoops up. Unlike Curiosity, which usually says "life could havebeen supported here," Zoë can more assertively say, "life is right here in front of us." The robot is currently testing its life-detecting abilities by trawling across the harsh environment of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
    

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Jobless Greek youth find innovative ways to make a living


Raw Story

Jobless Greek youth find innovative ways to make a living
Raw Story
Angelos Koulis doesn't like the term “lost generation” but he accepts that, in theory, he is part of it. Like many young Greeks, the 19-year-old is the first to say his future looked unbearably bleak, bereft of a job or any prospect of work, until he ...

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A clearer(?) Greek bond raid


A clearer(?) Greek bond raid
FT Alphaville
FT Alphaville had expected to report the triumphant acquisition of almost 10 per cent of the Greek bond market by a single, little-known investor on Monday. As per the original July 1 deadline on Japonica Partners' unusual offer to bondholders. A ...

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Greece on the pipeline map


Greece on the pipeline map
Kathimerini
The Shah Deniz II consortium has selected the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to export Azeri gas output to Europe, instead of Nabucco West. The decision essentially puts Greece on the energy map of both Europe and the broader region. This will have ...


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Portugal finance minister resigns



by 











Bailout austerity policies appeared to claim another victim today when the Portuguese finance minister, Vitor Gaspar, quit the bailed-out country's government .


The resignation was annouced by Portuguese president Anibal Cavaco Silva's office through the presidence website amid mounting pressure for the Lisbon government to ease its austerity policies.


Gaspar, an ECB economist with no previous involvement in the national political stage,  will be replaced by secretary of state for the Treasury Maria Luis Albuquerque it was announced. 


Neither the president's nor the prime minster's statements gave specific reasons for Vitor Gaspar's resignation.


Portugal received a €78bn bailout two years ago. The government is under fierce pressure from opposition parties, labour unions and business leaders to move away from the austerity policies adopted by Gaspar as Portugal is going through what is expected to be a third straight year of recession and its unemployment rate has soared to 17.6 percent and is forecast to exceed 18 percent next year.


Gaspar's insistence on tax hikes and public sector pay cuts had angered the junior partner in the center-right coalition government, the Popular Party, but Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's Social Democratic Party, the senior alliance partner, had stood by him.


Despite the cuts Portugal has been unable to meet its twice-eased austerity targets, set largely by the so-called troika made up by the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.


As a result, tensions have been heightened and as in the case of Greece and other bailed out countries, the terms of the bailout are part of the on-going political discussion..


Analysts though say that Gaspar's exit is unlikely to herald big policy changes as the austerity program is a requirement of the Troika. 







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Croatia has become the latest member of the EU periphery

Croatia's accession is marked by public anxiety that it will be the latest fall guy of the EU political elite's neoliberal ideology

Croatia has become the 28th EU member state. The European leaders want us to believe that, in spite of the Union's current crisis, this clearly testifies to the EU's lasting transformative power, its undisputable international role, and the desirability of its political and economic model. The Croatian political elite wants its citizens to believe that the old dream of joining Europe, which framed the narrative that once legitimised the reasons for abandoning socialism and later Yugoslavia, is finally achieved.

But almost no one in Croatia believes that the morning after will bring a better life. After all, Croatia is the new European record-holder in low Euro-enthusiasm, with only 43.5% turnout at the EU referendum in 2012 and 21% turnout for the first elections for the European parliament earlier this year. The EU's self-congratulatory statements cannot hide a profound malaise about the EU's future either. In stark contrast to the 2004 enlargement and, to a lesser extent, the 2007 one, Croatian accession is marked by a general gloom and anxiety within the new member state as well as across the EU.

Since 1990, Croatia has gone through a series of transformations, including a brutal war, a nationalist autocracy and the Euro-compatible behaviour of the post-Tudjman elites. The £2bn external debt, part of which was inherited from Yugoslavia, now stands at about £40bn, which is close to 100% of the country's GDP. Once the most prosperous and developed of the Yugoslav republics, it now has almost no industry. Tourism – often cited as Croatia's biggest asset within the EU – cannot replace it. A tourist slogan once portrayed it as "a small country for a great holiday", but tourism amounts to less than 20% of the country's GDP.

The dubious privatisation agenda of the 1990s, facilitated by the aftermath of war and followed by the continuous neoliberal reforms of the 2000s, created enormous social gaps which include today an unemployment rate of almost 20%. It is no surprise that Croatia ranks third (with 51.8%) in Europe when it comes to unemployment among young people – just behind Greece and Spain. Croatian governments, of both nationalist right and social-democratic left, have followed obediently the EU's austerity advice, even before the accession. Indeed, the Croatian story resembles those we hear about other EU member states from southern Europe – which brings us to a unavoidable conclusion: on 1 July Croatia has not actually joined only the EU; in reality, it has become a fully-fledged member of the EU periphery.

It is hard to miss the historical irony here. At the end of the 1980s Yugoslavia was experiencing a sharp conflict between the developed north and underdeveloped south, a foreign debt crisis, IMF-imposed austerity measures resulting in high unemployment, strikes, institutional paralysis, a lack of solidarity and the rise of nationalism. Croatia seceded from the crumbling federation in 1991 only to join, two decades later, another multinational union where it meets strikingly similar problems.

Instead of facing – or at least admitting – these problems, the Croatian government organised a party on 30 June at Zagreb's central square. More than £800,000 was spent on the celebration ceremony, which included live coverage on national television of a grand reception with European leaders in attendance, although Angela Merkel disappointed the host by cancelling her participation. Just a few days before, a leading shopping-chain from western Europe provided free lunch at the same square. The offer attracted about 15,000 Croatians.

During the celebration show the Croatian chief negotiator with the EU, Vladimir Drobnjak, was talking to a reporter about the benefits of the EU membership. He mentioned the well-worn phrase about "sitting at the same table and participating in decision-making". He mentioned that all these decisions are made by consensus – exactly as was the practice in Yugoslavia – and that it is priceless. Then, to the surprise of the reporter, he added, "and for everything else, there's MasterCard". In this he revealed the truth about Croatia's accession to the EU: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Croatian citizens have already paid dearly for EU membership. True, they are becoming European citizens, but the enormous debt will greatly weaken the country's negotiating position.

Croatian membership in the EU will have significant consequences for the rest of the Balkans as well. The new EU border, now pushed towards Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, will influence regional economic, social and political dynamics. Instead of recovering lost ties and creating an atmosphere of stability and mutual co-operation among post-Yugoslav states, which the EU and Croatian government state as being among their goals, the EU's longest external land border (1,300km) will, by the mere functioning of its police apparatus, necessarily cut Croatia off from its immediate and natural surrounding and bring further isolation from its neighbours. Croatia has thus a moral and political imperative to fight against the thickening of a border that cuts deep through what was once a common borderless space.

The leader of the Greek opposition, Alexis Tsipras, during his talk at the Subversive film festival in Zagreb in May, called upon Croatia to join the struggle for an EU that will be different from the one dominated in its current policies by neoliberal ideology and austerity measures, and based instead on the principles of democratic participation, social justice and international solidarity. A Croatia that could make a difference for itself and for others is indeed one that would have to understand that to make its voice heard within the EU it would have to replace the one-way street communication with Brussels with large solidarity networks both within the EU and the rest of the Balkans. Only then might it become something more than just the EU's "small country for a big holiday".


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Sentiment On Greece Reverses: NBG Shares Plunge 86% In Six Weeks.


Sentiment On Greece Reverses: NBG Shares Plunge 86% In Six Weeks.
Seeking Alpha
On June 7, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said that Greece's GDP fell 5.6% in the 2013 first quarter, worse than the 5.3% drop reported in its flash estimate on May 15. This marks the nineteenth consecutive quarterly decline in GDP ...


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FAITH Awards Ionian Village Scholarships

NEW YORK -For the seventh consecutive year, FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, will sponsor 46 scholarships this summer through its FAITH Birthright Hellas program to campers participating in the Ionian Village Summer Camp program. They will come from across the U.S. to attend the Ionian Village Summer Camping Ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The mission is to ...

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Greece Wants U.S. Answer On Spying

After the revelations by international media that Greece is among the countries that have been closely watched by the US National Security Agency (NSA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Greece is demanding an explanation from its ally why it reportedly happened. Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras reported that Greece cannot understand why the U.S. would take to snooping on its ...

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Greece Braces For Tough Troika Talks

The Troika is back in town, and Greek officials said they are expecting ';truly difficult'; talks with envoys from the country’s international lenders, the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) over lagging reforms and a 1-billion euro ($1.3 billion) hole that developed in the privatization scheme after the country didn’t receive a ...

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Eurostat Unemployment at 268 in March 2013

Unemployment among the active population in Greece rose from 26,7 percent in February to 26,8 percent in March, according to data that Eurostat released on July 1. According to community data, the median unemployment rate in the Eurozone ranged in May 2013 at 12,1 percent, noting a slight increase in relation to April (12 percent), while across the EU it remained steady at 10,9 percent. ...

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Community Mourns Passing of Atty. Peter Latos 48

(Photos/Costas Bej) The passing of Peter Latos (far right) was a big loss to the Greek-American community. He is seen here with (from left) Aggelos Aggelis, George Kitsios, and his brother, Andreas Latos. While he was known to be ill, his death was a shock. NEW YORK- The well-known Greek-American attorney and co-owner of New Greek TV Peter (Panagiotis) Latos, passed away on June 29 after a long ...

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Jobless young Greeks take imaginative steps to change their destiny

Angelos Koulis doesn't like the term "lost generation" but he accepts that, in theory, he is part of it. Like many young Greeks, the 19-year-old is the first to say his future looked unbearably bleak, bereft of a job or any prospect of work, until he decided to become a break boy."I weighed up my options and thought I can sit on my behind or do something I really like," ...

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From Byzantine iconography to modern Greek painting

By Christina Sanoudou Inspired by his days in Paris and influenced by Byzantine tradition, Constantinos Parthenis experimented with the use of color when he was asked to paint the Aghios Alexandros Church in Palaio Faliro, southern Athens, in 1918.A few years later, in 1923, Photis Kontoglou's visit to Mount Athos signaled the artist's ecclesiastical creative phase. In 1927, ...

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CCHBC gains buoy local stocks higher

Coca-Cola HBC drove the Greek bourse higher at the start of the week as most stocks recovered from earlier losses on Monday. However, on such low turnover, it appears unlikely there will be enough interest in local stocks for the main index to return to the 1,000-point level any time soon.The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 851.42 points, adding 0.45 percent to ...

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Firm Revises Greek-Debt Offer

Japonica Partners, the firm that became an intriguing new name in European government bond markets last month with a plan to buy Greek debt, has slashed the price and extended the deadline on its tender.

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Why Labour risks a challenge from the left

The dispute in Falkirk with Unite shows the potential for disillusioned Labour supporters running for office under a different banner

It's late 2016 and after 18 months of political turmoil, John McDonnell and Nigel Farage have finally agreed to form a grand coalition, following pressure from Angela Merkel and president-elect Hilary Clinton, increasingly concerned about the threat to stability in Europe. Unite and Ukip have agreed that Britain will not leave the EU, but will be granted greater national powers, including its own economic regeneration programme, with some tougher immigration controls tied to the level of unemployment. Little Britain (now Scotland has seceded) will keep a nuclear capability, but there will be no full-scale Trident replacement. Greengrocers will be able to sell their produce by the pound.

Pretty unlikely you would think. Isn't our party political system immune to insurgent parties from the extremes? But 20 years ago few would have given any credence to Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley sitting down in the same room, much less forming what by all accounts was a pretty successful power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. Could the same political process that led to the two extremes of Sinn Féin and the DUP taking over the mainstream in the province be happening on the mainland?

As the traditional parties of left and right creep ever closer to each other to contest a narrow consensus of policy split-hairs, we have already seen a significant body of support on the right split away to Ukip. Second places in the Eastleigh and South Shields byelections, backed up by widespread gains in the council elections, seem to indicate more than protest votes going to the party.

If it is consolidating a 12-15% chunk of the electorate around issues such as immigration, the EU, traditional marriage and grammar schools, next year's European elections held under PR could give it a major breakthrough. Success breeds success in politics: more elected representatives, more activists, a more organised party structure. The party still has its chaotic moments – overt racists sneaking under the wire, Farage trying to sell the home counties to the Scots. But it starts to look more solid. Farage is not (just) the lounge bar buffoon the left would like to paint him as. He can be articulate and affable, which strikes a chord with many voters. When the near winner of Eastleigh appeared on Question Time recently, there were leftists tweeting in astonishment how they agreed with almost everything she said.

So far the left has stayed solid. Neither the Greens, Respect, Bob Crow's Socialist party nor the National Health party have made any inroads into Labour's electoral support. But the dissension on the left has grown ever louder as Labour has waved the white flag on the economy, welfare and education in recent weeks, leaving more and more people to ask what on earth the party is for if it agrees with the coalition on all the fundamentals.

The saving grace for Labour – and indeed what underpins its belief in cleaving to the centre, however far to the right it moves – is that the disillusioned on the left, mainly poorer people, tend not to engage in politics or vote – or even register to vote – unlike the disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells on the right. However, George Galloway's election in Bradford shows that at least parts of this constituency can be mobilised, if they think their interests and views will actually be represented.

Which is perhaps the key to what happened in Northern Ireland. Pressure from an establishment inside and outside the province forced the traditional parties of the two communities – the mainly Catholic SDLP and the Protestant UUP – to publicly support the "respectable" views of these elites, rather than their own members and supporters, until other parties which would give them a voice stole their support and replaced them.

Right now key components of Labour's constituency – public sector workers, the low-paid, those on benefits, young people without secure jobs or homes, trade union activists – are all feeling increasingly cast adrift by the party it thinks should be representing them. It might only take one flashpoint – such as the dispute in Falkirk between the Labour party and the Unite union over candidate selection – to spark a viable new voice on the left that could peel off many disillusioned supporters and start winning council or even parliamentary seats.

Democracy can only work if the parties represent all sections of the electorate and give them a voice in the political process. If that doesn't happen, and large groups are excluded for long periods, the unpredictable can happen (check out Greece and Italy). Is it likely that we will see a London version of the Chuckle Brothers marching behind the mace? Probably not. But don't bet the house on who has the last laugh after the next general election.


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Greek government majority rises after independent lawmakers join


Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Greek government majority rises after independent lawmakers join
Reuters
ATHENS | Mon Jul 1, 2013 12:00pm EDT. ATHENS (Reuters) - Two independent lawmakers have joined Greece's ruling New Democracy party, the prime minister's office said on Monday, bolstering the coalition government's majority to five seats.
Creditors to Determine Whether to Release Greek AidNew York Times
Greek government, creditors to resume talksMiamiHerald.com
Politician with anti-Semitic past appointed as Greek health ministerJewish Telegraphic Agency
International Business Times
all 43 news articles »

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Another Snowden Leak: The US Is Spying on Our Allies

Source: www.breitbart.com - Monday, July 01, 2013
This weekend we saw another leak from Edward Snowden, this time regarding the United States spying on the European Union's mission in New York and it's embassy in Washington DC.  One document lists 38 embassies and missions, describing them as "targets". It details an extraordinary range of spying methods used against each target, from bugs implanted in electronic communications gear to taps into cables to the collection of transmissions with specialised antennae. Targets include French, Italian and Greek embassies along with Japan, South Korea, Mexico, India and Turkey.  One method of bugging the embassies is codenamed "Dropmire" in which bugs are "implanted on the Cryptofax at the EU embassy, DC."  News of the surveillance was not well received by our allies. "Germany's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, demanded an explanation from Washington, saying that if confirmed, US behaviour 'was reminiscent of the actions of enemies during the cold war'." Snowden also leaked a floor plan of the mission in Manhattan, where US intelligence had a bugging operation codenamed "Perdido." The methods used against the mission include the collection of data transmitted by implants, or bugs, placed inside electronic devices, and another covert operation that appears to provide a copy of everything on a targeted computer's hard drive. The targeting in Washington DC of the EU delegation involved "three different operations targe
All Related

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Creditors to Determine Whether to Release Greek Aid

The arrival of the officials coincided with reports that they might release only part of the next installment of aid in order to keep pressure on Athens.
    



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